Rose's First Day
by It'sFridayI'mInLove
Summary: It's Rose's first day at Hogwarts tomorrow and she's a little scared. It's up to Ron and Hermione to make her feel better!


**Hi! This is my first attempt at publishing something Harry Potter related, so I'm a little nervous! haha.**

**I don't own any of the characters or people/places in here because sadly, I'm not J.K. Rowling and they all belong to her brilliant mind.**

**Wish I did own Ron Weasley though... anyway! Enjoy!**

**Rose's First Day  
**

"I swear that kid is the grumpiest kid in the world when he's tired." Ron Weasley said, referring to his 9 year old son Hugo, falling ungracefully backwards onto his bed, landing half on it and half on his wife.

"Oomph," Hermione Weasley said as the weight of her husband hit her. He shifted so he was lying next to her instead of on her and she carried on talking. "I blame you for that."

Ron looked outraged. "What do you mean by that?"

"He obviously got that personality trait from you!" Hermione explained. "I'm perfectly pleasant when I'm tired, whereas you turn into a right grumpy sod."

Ron scoffed. "Yeah, right," he said sarcastically, thinking of the Hermione who would sit up in the Gryffindor common room until 2am doing homework and bite his head off for so much as breathing. "He obviously got it from me."

Clearly not getting the sarcasm, Hermione merely smiled and put the book she was holding down for good that night on the bed side table and stretched. She was tired and she had a full day of her ahead tomorrow. She was a little apprehensive but excited nonetheless; her daughter was going to Hogwarts!

Yes, Ron and Hermione's baby was now 11 years old and would be heading off to Hogwarts tomorrow ready for 7 years at the magical school.

Speaking of her, though…

"Did Rose seem alright to you tonight?" Hermione asked Ron as he pulled his shirt over his head and threw it carelessly onto the floor. "I mean, she didn't seem worried or anything did she?"

Ron shook his head. "Not that I could tell, no. She seemed fine. I bet she's really excited. I was before my first day."

"So was I," Hermione agreed with a reminiscent smile. "Other than getting my things from Diagon Alley, I'd never really been in the magical world so it was extra special for me…and then I met two idiots on the train and my life was never the same."

Ron burst out laughing. The memory of a bossy, know-it-all little girl bursting into the carriage he was sharing with Harry and telling him he had dirt on his nose would always be fresh in his mind. It was the first time he met his future wife after all.

"Rose will have a blast." He said, thinking all about Hogwarts, the place that was like a home to him. "She'll love it there, I just know it."

He then turned over on his side to face Hermione and gave her a cheeky smile.

She reached over and stroked his hair gently. "What?" She asked.

Ron shrugged. "Just thinking. Would you have ever thought, back in first year, back when you'd just met me and Harry that the two of us would have ended up getting married?"

Hermione laughed out loud. "Of course not, I never would have thought that! I never thought we'd talk to each other outside of that carriage."

He reached over and pulled her to him, moving so he was leaning above her with his arms on either side of his body. Hermione giggled and placed her hands on his forearms.

"And here we are, 26 years later; still best friends, in love and married with two beautiful kids." Ron said, smiling down at his wife. "Aaaaand…still snogging like we're teenagers."

Before Hermione realised what had happened, Ron had attached his lips to her neck and was kissing her there making her almost squeal because it tickled too much.

"Ron…Ron, we…can't." She gasped out. "The kids are…"

"…Asleep," Ron continued. "The kids are asleep."

Feeling her resolve cave at seeing his gorgeous face so close, Hermione sighed and gave in.

"Okay, fine, just shut up and kiss me properly, Weasley."

"No problem, Weasley."

…

CRASH!

There was the sound of something breaking downstairs and Ron and Hermione sat up so fast that Hermione hit Ron on the chin with the top of her head.

"OUCH!" He exclaimed. "Bloody hell, Hermione!"

"I'm sorry!" Hermione gushed, her hands over her face. "I'm so sorry! But what was that noise?"

"No idea," Ron said.

"We should go check it out…"

She was about to grab her wand and get out of bed when Ron pulled her back.

"No, no, no," he said. "You stay here, I'll go and check."

"Ronald Weasley I am just as capable as you to walk downstairs and…"

Ron silenced her with a kiss. "Stop and let your husband protect you. Stay here, I'll go see what it was."

He didn't give her a chance to respond as he grabbed his wand and ran out of their room and down the stairs. He figured the noise had come from the kitchen so paused outside the door, trying to peer in and see if there was anything or anyone in there. What he was expecting was some kind of monster…he wasn't expecting to see a red haired, pyjama clad girl, picking up the pieces of a broken mug.

"Rosie?" He asked, stepping into the room.

The girl jumped at the sound of the voice behind her but calmed down once she saw it was only her dad.

"Hi," she said meekly, turning away and leaning down to pick up the mug pieces again.

Ron, taking pity on her, pointed his wand at the fragments and muttered 'Reparo', and the mug was all back in one piece.

"Thanks," Rose said, taking the mug and putting it back on the counter

Ron paused for a second, watching her. "Right, are you going to tell me why you're creeping around downstairs in the dark breaking mugs or not?"

Rose sighed and looked down at her bare feet. "Mum always said there's nothing that can't be solved with a mug of hot chocolate."

"Well, what could you possibly need to solve?" He asked with a chuckle. "You're eleven!"

Rose stayed silent.

"Rose?" Ron encouraged.

"I'm…I'm scared." She muttered, not meeting her father's eye. "I'm scared about going to Hogwarts tomorrow."

He was about to speak again but was interrupted by Hermione appearing at the door.

"I told you to stay upstairs!" He said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You'd been gone for a while, I thought I'd better come down and make sure there wasn't a hungry Hippogriff in our kitchen that decided to eat you as a midnight snack." This made Rose giggle and Hermione noticed her daughter standing there. "Rose darling, what are you doing down here?"

"Breaking mugs," Ron joked.

Rose shot her dad an icy glare. "I was trying to make some hot chocolate…"

"Why?"

Once again, Rose stayed silent.

"She's scared about going to Hogwarts tomorrow," Ron said, coming to his daughter's aid.

Hermione's expression softened. "Oh sweetheart, why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Rose shrugged. "I just thought you'd think I'm being silly. Loads of my cousins have gone to Hogwarts, why should I be scared?"

Ron pulled out a chair and sat down, grabbing Rose and pulling her onto his lap while Hermione took another chair and sat down opposite them, taking Rose's hand in hers.

"Of course we wouldn't think you were silly!" Hermione insisted. "It's just natural to be a little scared about your first day at school. Especially if it's a boarding school!"

"And think how your mum and Uncle Harry felt when they went," Ron joined in. "They knew nothing about the magical world, so it would have been even scarier for them! You've been around magic all your life and you know what Hogwarts is like from us and your cousins and aunts and uncles and everyone. It's not like you know nothing about it."

"It's going to be different actually being there though," Rose said, looking down at her lap again. "Yeah, I could ask James all about it and yes, Victoire could tell me all about the classes and stuff, but it'll be different when I'm there."

This was true, of course. Letters and stories from others couldn't really convey the magic and the atmosphere that surrounded Hogwarts. It was one thing to hear about how boring History of Magic could be but another thing to actually experience it.

"Look, sweetheart," Hermione said softly. "It's going to be fine. Once you get there you'll absolutely love it and won't even want to come home at Christmas!"

Rose looked outraged. "I'll want to come home at Christmas! I don't even want to leave home in the first place!"

Ron chuckled lightly, pressing a soft kiss on top of his daughter's mass of curly red hair. "We're not too thrilled about letting you go all the way across the country either, love."

Hermione sighed. "Not helping, Ron."

"What I mean to say," he continued. "If you'd let me finish, is that yes, we don't want you to leave, but every witch or wizard has to do it in order to go to school. It's something we've all had to do and something you'll have to do. I promise you Rosie, once you've made friends and you're sitting in your dormitory kicking their butts at chess, you won't even miss us!"

"I guess…" Rose said with a defeated tone, understanding where her father was coming from. "But I'll definitely want to come home for Christmas!" She added hurriedly.

Hermione nodded. "Okay, darling. And we'll be happy to have you back. But you've got to go there first! It's the whole build up that's scary; it won't seem so daunting once you're there. Is there anything else you're worried about?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, what if I don't make any friends?"

"You'll make loads of friends!" Ron exclaimed. "You're the most lovely, kind, funny, smart eleven year old girl there is, you'll have loads of people wanting to talk to you!"

Rose groaned. "You're my dad though, you have to say that."

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."

"Well maybe I'll have people talking to me…but what if they don't like me? What if I can't make any best friends because they just see me as the know-it-all that answers all the questions? What if they call me a teachers pet…what, what are you laughing at?"

Her sentence had trailed off as her mother and father had begun cracking up laughing.

"What?!" She insisted.

"Nothing," Hermione said, wiping a stray tear away from her eye with her sleeve and trying to compose herself. "It's just…that all sounds very familiar."

"What do you mean by that?" Rose asked.

"Let's just say your mum was a bit of a teacher's pet back then too," Ron said, also trying to compose himself. "She was a bit of a nightmare actually!"

"Hey!" Hermione said, hitting her husband on the arm.

"Come on, love," he said. "You know part of the reason I fell in love with you was because of how smart you were."

"You're lucky I love you enough to let that one slip."

Rose cleared her throat suggestively. "Umm, as much as I like hearing about how you got together, can we save the conversation for another time?"

"Right," Hermione said, shaking her hand and breaking herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, Rose. Look darling, I know you'll be fine, you'll make friends really easily and if you're lucky…" she looked up at her husband with a gentle smile on her face. "You'll find your Harry and Ron."

Ron smiled happily and found his wife's hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

"Okay then, so I'll just have to go and try and attack a mountain troll to make friends, will I?" Rose asked cheekily, smirking.

"If you go anywhere near a troll you'll be on the train back quicker than you can say Accio." Ron said seriously.

Hermione laughed at her husband and looked back to her daughter again. "Anything else you'd like to talk to us about?"

"Yeah," Rose admitted. "What if I'm late for one of my classes or I get lost or don't know where to go?"

"Well, the school is very big," Hermione replied honestly. "So it wouldn't surprise me if you were late to one of your classes. Your professor's wont mind if you tell them you got lost as long as you say it in a nice way."

"And anyway, the school is swimming with Weasley's; I bet there'll be someone around every corner that you can ask to help you." Ron joked. "Victoire's in her seventh year, so if anyone knows the castle, it's her. Lou and James are in their third year and Al will be in your year, so you can get lost together! And you know Luna and Rolf's kids, they'd be happy to help. And don't forget Neville! Yeah, he'll be Professor Longbottom while you're at school, but he's still our friend and he'd personally take you to your classes if you asked him! So you really don't have to worry."

Rose nodded, realising just how many people she knew at Hogwarts already. There were so many people to help her and so many people she could talk to. She was going with Albus too, so they could deal with it all together. She really didn't have anything to worry about.

"Okay, I feel a little better now," she admitted.

"That's good," Hermione said with a smile. "Now, are you ready to go back up to bed?"

"Or do you want to break a few more mugs first?" Ron joked.

"DAD!"

"Sorry, sorry! Come on, let's go up to bed…Rose, come on, get up so we can move."

Rose wrapped her arms around her dad's neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "No."

"Rose…"

"Carry me."

"Rosie, you're 11 years old!"

"Don't care."

He looked at Hermione for back up. She simply shrugged telling him the ball was in his court.

"Oh come on then Rosie Posie, let's get you up to bed." He said, shifting her in his arms and standing up, ready to carry her up to her bed.

Looking down at his daughter curled up in his arms the way she did when she was a little girl really made him realise how much he was going to miss her. This was the last night he was going to be spending with her until Christmas.

"Hey Rose?" He asked once they were halfway up the stairs. "Do you want to sleep in with your mum and me tonight?"

Rose nodded her head eagerly. "Yes please, daddy!"

He smiled as they made it to his room, laying her down on the bed and getting in next to her, while Hermione did the same on the other side, the same sad smile on her face that was on his. He knew she was thinking the same thing as him. Their little girl was all grown up.

"Are you feeling better now, darling?" Hermione asked, stroking Rose's hair.

Rose nodded and curled up into her mother's side. "Yeah, much better. Thanks for helping me."

"We'll always help you, love." Ron said, turning over and hugging his daughter, grabbing Hermione's hand in his across her body. "Even when you're at school, we're only an owl away."

"And like we said, you can always ask one of your cousins for some help or advice. Maybe not James, though. But Victoire is very wise, and she's been there for six years, and so is Albus and he's in your year so might be feeling the same way and…" Hermione stopped as she looked down and saw that Rose was already asleep.

"You talk so much you've worn her out." Ron teased.

"Don't be mean," Hermione warned, but there was a smile on her face. "She's just tired. And I don't blame her, I'm really tired myself."

"Let's get some sleep then, we have to be up early tomorrow, you know what chaos the 1st of September is." He leaned down a kissed Rose on the head then kissed Hermione on the lips sweetly. "Night, Hermione"

"Night, Ron." She said with a yawn. "I love you."

"I love you too…teachers pet."

"RON!"

"Sorry!"

"You alright, Rosie Posie?"

Rose, who was sitting on her trunk on platform nine and three quarters, deep in thought blushed at the familiar nickname. "DAD!" She scolded. "What have I told you about calling me that in public?"

Ron laughed. "Sorry Rose, but it's the last time I'm going to see you until Christmas, I figured I'm allowed to call you it for now."

She shrugged and chuckled, picking at a piece of fluff on her jumper.

"You didn't answer me," Ron said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Rose said with a nod. "Still a little nervous, but I'm okay…I'm just…I'm going to miss you dad."

Ron was taken aback as Rose flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back and kissed her on the head, suddenly feeling a little choked up.

"I'm going to miss you too, kid." He said. "I'm going to miss you too. But come on, let's put on our brave faces and not leave James and Auntie Ginny with something to laugh at us about, eh?"

Pulling away and looking up at her dad, Rose chuckled. "I will if you will. You look like you're about to cry!"

"I am not!" Ron said, puffing out his chest, not wanting to be caught crying by his daughter. "I just…I've got something in my eye."

"Sure dad, sure," Rose said, grinning and patting him on the arm. "Now come on, let's get back over there before mum starts freaking out."

Ron and Hermione stood with Harry, Ginny, Hugo and Lily and watched the Hogwarts Express pull out of the station, taking with it their daughter. Hermione put a hand to her mouth as she held back a sob and Ron put his arm around Hugo, watching until the only thing left of the train in view was a puff of smoke.

"Oh goodness," Hermione said, letting the tears fall from her eyes now and turning to hide her face in Ron's chest. "Oh goodness, she's really gone."

"She'll be fine," Ron said, letting go of Hugo to wrap his arms around his wife. "She's going to have a blast and she'll be back for Christmas before you know it!"

"I guess," Hermione said, sniffing slightly. "It seems like only yesterday that it was us heading to Hogwarts."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, it does. But we had our time there, now it's time for the next generation to make their memories at that castle the way we did."


End file.
